Rand Paul wins Michigan straw poll

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. – Rand Paul won the straw poll at the Mackinac Island Republican Leadership Conference, a show of organizational strength for a candidate who has seen his presidential hopes fade.

Paul led with 22 percent, followed by Carly Fiorina with 15 percent, John Kasich with 13 percent, and Ted Cruz with 12 percent. Trailing them were Jeb Bush with 9 percent, Marco Rubio with 8 percent, and Donald Trump with 6 percent.

The prestigious party cattle call, held on a picturesque Northern Michigan island where cars are not allowed and commuters use horse and buggies, drew a handful of the party’s presidential contenders. The straw poll is electorally meaningless, but it is an exercise in political organizing and several campaigns worked the halls of the Grand Hotel aggressively – especially Paul’s.

Going into the weekend, many believed that Paul had a built-in advantage. Heading up his straw poll efforts was John Yob, Paul’s national political director and a Michigan-based Republican strategist in Michigan who is well versed in political organizing. Yob had spent weeks preparing for the straw poll, pushing many of the senator’s activist-minded supporters to cast votes at the conference.

Supporters for Cruz, meanwhile, sought to tilt the vote in his favor by spray-painting the candidate’s name on the sidewalk leading up to the stately Grand Hotel, where the three-day conference is held.

Kasich had perhaps the most visible presence, with aides handing out T-shirts to supporters and setting up a booth offering goodies like bumper stickers. Throughout the weekend, the Ohio governor and his top aides, including campaign manager Beth Hansen, roamed the halls. Kasich’s speaking slot wasn’t until Saturday afternoon, but he showed up Friday night at the hotel to address a group of young supporters.

Supporters for Kasich had hoped that a win would provide him with an aura of momentum in Michigan, a Midwestern battleground that he plans to seriously contend. Walker, another Midwestern governor, did not seriously compete in the straw poll. The Wisconsin governor had been scheduled to deliver a Saturday morning speech but cancelled because, his campaign said, inclement weather interrupted his flight plans.

Fiorina, riding a wave of momentum following her debate performance, drew hordes of supporters to the hotel on Saturday evening. Many of them, wearing “Carly” stickers, packed the dinner hall to hear her address the conference.

It’s the second major straw poll win for Paul, whose following of young, libertarian-minded supporters often pack cattle calls like the one held here this weekend.

Earlier this year, Paul won the straw poll at the conservative political action committee, a gathering of activists held outside of Washington, D.C.

Paul, who has fallen to the back of the pack in Republican polls, addressed the conference on Saturday, telling those gathered that the nation had been too interventionist in its approach to foreign policy and declaring that he wanted to restore “common sense” to America’s international posture.